1. Robert Nicholas Giraldi was born on January 17,1939 and is an American filmmaker, music video and commercial director, educator, and restaurateur.
18 Facts About Bob Giraldi
1. 2.
Bob Giraldi is known for directing the film Dinner Rush and the music video for Michael Jackson's "Beat It".
3.
Bob Giraldi has been inducted into the Art Director's Hall of Fame, one of the few film directors to be honored; and, in 2014, was the first director ever to be inducted to the Advertising Hall of Fame.
4.
Bob Giraldi's work has garnered several London International Awards, Cannes Advertising Awards, NY International Awards, Addy Awards, Chicago Film Festival Awards, and dozens of Clio Awards.
5.
Bob Giraldi has been named one of the 101 Stars Behind 100 Years of Advertising.
6.
Bob Giraldi was born on January 17,1939, in Paterson, New Jersey, to a working-class Italian-American family.
7.
Bob Giraldi attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1960.
8.
In 1965, Bob Giraldi began teaching advertising at the School of Visual Arts in New York and later became the chairman of the Advertising Department.
9.
Bob Giraldi has produced and directed over 5,000 unique visual marketing and advertising pieces.
10.
Bob Giraldi was the director of the Michael Jackson: Pepsi New Generation ad that was released in 1984.
11.
Michael Jackson's autobiography states that Bob Giraldi told Michael to stay under the sparks for a longer period of time.
12.
Bob Giraldi was hand-picked by Jackson himself after the singer saw an Eye Witness News commercial directed by Bob Giraldi, about an elderly blind couple holding a block party for their new Black and Hispanic neighbors, the "Beat It" video featured cast members that were real life members of the Bloods and the Crips.
13.
Bob Giraldi directed Michael Jackson again, this time with Paul McCartney, for their song "Say Say Say".
14.
Bob Giraldi made three feature films in the 1980s, directing Jon Cryer's Hiding Out as well as National Lampoon's Movie Madness and Club Med, before directing his fourth and most critically acclaimed feature film Dinner Rush a decade later.
15.
Bob Giraldi directed the short film A Poet Long Ago based on a short story written by Pete Hamill and starring Steve Schirripa and Boris McGiver.
16.
In 2014 Bob Giraldi appeared on the TV series Celebrity Taste Makers with Danny Aiello, discussing his experience in the restaurant business as well as the making of Dinner Rush and its influence on later food shows, both reality and fictional.
17.
In 1965, Bob Giraldi became the chair of the Advertising Department at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
18.
Since 2010, Bob Giraldi has been the founding chair of the Masters in Film Directing department at the School of Visual Arts.